“I can’t think of a better part, and that’s including Shakespeare,” says Cazenove.

On the phone, he sure sounds like Higgins in the musical that comes to the Opera House, Feb. 4-17. He’s playing the role made internationally famous by the late Rex Harrison, who won a Tony (1957) and an Oscar (1964). People liked Harrison, and that’s the trick, because Higgins has his faults, spending lots of time berating Eliza (remember the “impotent hussy” lyric?).

“He’s such a ghastly character,” laughs Cazenove who admits that some of his inflections are close to Harrison’s. “And a misogynistic bully. The key is taking this character and making him likable.”

But this isn’t the first time he’ll be dancing on stage and bemoaning the brutalization of the English language in the early number, “Why Can’t the English?” Cazenove (who you may remember as Ben Carrington from TV’s “Dynasty”) first took on the role of Prof. Higgins during the extended UK tour of the musical.

“The way people sound, it does affect the way they are received by people,” says Cazenove. “I don’t think it really happens as much now, but it’s still there.”

(Just wait till he gets to Boston, where he’ll never hear another “r.”)

Songs like “Rain in Spain” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to her Face” are familiar to every fan of musicals.

“I’ve heard, when we did this production in the UK, that audiences were singing along with us,” says Cazenove. “Fortunately, we can’t hear them from the stage.”

Cazenove says the familiarity of the musical doesn’t bother him, but it did pose the problem in terms of giving it a fresh look on the stage.

“It’s both a homage and a re-interpretation of the work,” says Cazenove. “I think people think they know this musical, but will come to a realization that, in actuality, they don’t know it at all.”

Part of the re-interpretation comes from the award-winning choreographer Matthew Borne, who had his ensemble research on what a common Londoner from 1910 would act like.

But perhaps the biggest place for re-interpretation is within the much-debated ending of the musical, which has been a sore spot for some longtime fans of the musical. We won’t ruin it for the young ones headed to the show for the first time, but, for years, actors, directors and audiences have clamored for a more romantic ending.

“Higgins goes on a journey and, in the end, finds his feminine side, so to speak,” laughs Cazenove. “With our ending, we show that the battle goes on between the two very strongly willed people. I think our ending is quite clever.”